Magnum Force (1973)

Magnum Force (1973), directed by Ted Post.

The sequel to Dirty Harry (1971) seems like an entirely new time and character. He's less angry, more integrated into the police department and actually has friends. This film has more daylight and is less grungy than the first. The plot is switched around: instead of an out-of-control cop he is hunting down a police death squad.

Eastwood glides through with his innate coolness, not really involved with the conflict and getting a new girlfriend without even trying. He does seem a bit shaken up after finding a bomb in his mailbox, proving that he is mortal.

Some interesting point-of-view camera work: mounted on a motorcycle, sighting down the barrel of a shotgun, floating with the ceiling fan. Again some good San Francisco panoramas.

When I saw this in the theater the audience gasped in outrage when the ugly mobster cavorted with a coke-dusted young couple on a waterbed. They applauded when the pretty boy was shot.

Available on Blu-ray. Lalo Schifrin score. Nudity and bloodshed.

Technical note: the thumbnails are the first I've taken directly from a Blu-ray, not that it matters much when they are so much smaller than the original images.

http://watershade.net/public/magnum-force.jpg